DOD Suspends F-35, F135 Engine Deliveries Amid Investigation

The move comes in the wake of a hard landing accident at a Texas base last month.

Kimberly Johnson

Thursday, January 05, 2023 at 03:34 PM ET

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F-35 Lightning II [Credit: U.S. Air Force]

Key Takeaways:

The Pentagon has halted all deliveries of F-35 fighter jets and their F135 engines.
This decision follows a December 15 F-35B hard landing accident at a Texas base, which is currently under investigation by Naval Air Systems Command.
The pause in flight operations for acceptance tests caused Lockheed Martin to miss its annual F-35 delivery target, with a joint team now developing procedures to resume deliveries.

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Pentagon officials have stopped all deliveries of F-35s, as well as deliveries of F135 engines for the fighters following a F-35B hard landing accident at a Texas base last month.

The decision comes amid a Naval Air Systems Command investigation into a December 15 incident where a F-35B pilot made an emergency ejection after the fighter jet made a hard landing at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas.